


The Height of Favor

by SeahorseWithLaptop



Series: Hell likes Toys [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Demons, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-12 02:59:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7917850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeahorseWithLaptop/pseuds/SeahorseWithLaptop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyungsoo found the perfect toy, and it was his to enjoy per norms of the court, but you never could predict the twisted politics of hell. All it takes is a murmur from Yixing in the right ear and Baekhyun is stolen away—for now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Height of Favor

The stubborn beast still twitched even after Kyungsoo had shot a heavy leaden arrow straight through its eye. He stepped closer to the boar cautiously, another arrow knocked just in case, until its tongue peeked out of its mouth and he saw maroon, viscous blood oozing over the fresh green grass of the forest floor. It was a strange breath of silence he wasn't used to at court—he, the boar, and his horse had broken away from the pack and he could swear he heard it take its last breath.

Then through the trees came the trumpets, and the hoofbeats, and shouts and yelling when the strawberry-blonde mistress of their hunt wheeled her horse to a furious, stomping halt before the monstrous prize. Quickly behind her came her golden-haired consort, his stallion frothing at the mouth. Kyungsoo frowned. They must have taken the long way. No one would believe him that you could just swim across the wide part of the river that cut through hell instead of galloping like mad to the part narrow enough to jump over.

Not that the hunting grounds looked much like hell. Not like much of it looked like hell at all except the palace. A loud laugh escaped Lucifer's mouth as he guided his horse around the boar, looking from it to Kyungsoo and back to him again. "I don't know why I keep betting on Zitao," he announced, speaking more to Diana than to the other courtiers who were slowly filling into the clearing with whinnies and low chatter. "It's these quiet ones who always seem to do it. First Jongin at the tourney, then Kyungsoo at the hunt. But Kyungsoo, by God, you got him right through the eye!"

Diana laughed, the notes tinkling around the clearing. "Your courtiers never cease to amaze, my dear. Maybe one day you'll actually do something yourself."

Lucifer scoffed good-naturedly, guiding his horse parallel to Diana's white mare. "I'm the lightbringer, aren't I? I like to think that now I use my abilities to get my courtiers amazing, beautiful toys."

"None so beautiful as you, though," Diana replied, smirking, taking his jaw in her hand for a moment to admire how the light reflected off his cheekbones. "Mine is the prettiest."

"A toy, you say?" Lucifer murmured, his eyes sparking red for a moment as he licked his lips. "Oh, but a consort is so much sexier." He wheeled his horse back towards Kyungsoo before Diana could reply, a familiar mischief in his eyes the whole court could recognize. Out of the corner of his eye, Kyungsoo could see Jongin on his tall dainty bay looking proud, and Zitao farther back in the shadows, staring at the boar like looking at it could give it a second death, and bring reward for him as well. "Kyungsoo! Do I have a toy for you! I'll see you in my quarters later, yeah?" And he was off, pounding back towards the palace in a streak of white-blonde hair, wide smiles, and pointy cheekbones, Diana's mare a white dash of muscle quick behind him.

He could feel the anticipation already, and felt it mount as the time came for his appointment with the prince of hell. The last one he'd gotten had been amazing, and he'd barely been able to function properly—the thing kept invading his thoughts, distracting him, pulling him home like a siren. It was true what Lucy had said. He really did seem to enjoy finding people Up There who thrived in hell. 

Lucy wasn't wearing a shirt, as usual, and his jeans were very tight. Kyungsoo sighed, waiting at the door of the enormous room until he was spoken to. Finally the demon turned around, arms wide in welcome. "Kyungsoo, dude! This kinky motherfucker—oh my god, just wait until you see him. Now, I'll under stand if he's, I don't know—" Lucy chuckled to himself— "Bro, I honestly don't know how you won't love him. But come on. Embrace me, my disciple!" He gave Kyungsoo a dap, keeping their hands held together and Kyungsoo felt the heady rush of magic and they were Up There.

The sun was hot. They were in what looked like a normal office building, full of normal grays and whites that made Kyungsoo want to lean against the window and go to sleep. Lucy leaned against the wall and pointed at the receptionist, who had his feet propped up on his desk and looked supremely bored. Kyungsoo thought: Lucy, you should have worn a shirt. Then we wouldn't have to fucking hide. But he knew Lucy had done that on purpose, so Kyungsoo wouldn't walk right up and introduce himself to the human.

The human was beautiful. He was slipping a delicate finger into his mouth for some reason, tipping his chair back. His hair, a light brown fell a little in his eyes. The ghost of last night's eyeliner lingered in the corners, like black tears. Kyungsoo watched as he sighed, took his feet off the desk, and picked up the phone, listening for a few seconds before hanging up and standing. 

"I'll take him," Kyungsoo murmured.

"Thought you might," Lucy replied smugly. Kyungsoo didn't respond; Lucy had every right to be smug about his selection. Kyungsoo was already cataloguing the ways he could wreck this soul and his delicious looking ass. "His name's Baekhyun," Lucy continued, bringing them back to his quarters in hell and giving Kyungsoo a brotherly pat on the back. "Byun Baekhyun. Huge cockslut if you ask me, but I'll let you be the judge."

"Thanks, Lucy." Kyungsoo smiled. He knew Lucy enjoyed having a happy court because it gave him relative independence from Diana, like a pet project he could also use as a army if the need arose. Getting a toy from Lucy meant you were at the height of favor, except when the real mistress was around. Then it had to be no big deal.

* * *

Baekhyun woke in a cloud, or at least that's what it felt like. It felt nothing like his paper-thin mattress on the top bunk bed of his shared apartment. This, if it even was a mattress, must have been as thick as the whole bunk bed itself. It was warm and silky and frankly, Baekhyun didn't care how he'd gotten there. Maybe he'd gotten drunk last night. Maybe that well-dressed associate that came to the office sometimes he'd been eyefucking had taken him home. It didn't matter; he snuggled deeper into it.

"By all means, make yourself at home," said an unfamiliar voice, deep and velvety from the end of the bed. 

Baekhyun peeked above the covers. No; it wasn't that guy. He'd never seen this guy before in his life. He studied the man a little harder. Hot, though, he thought to himself, he's got that gravitas. he stands with that presence. He already knew the guy smelled good; he was wrapped up in his sheets.

"Nice to meet you," he mumbled. "Forgive me, I don't seem to remember us meeting... before."

"Nice to meet you as well," replied the man, his thick lips drawing back into the hint of an amused smile, "Byun Baekhyun. Welcome to hell."

"Hell?" Baekhyun perked up a little more, looking around at the deep purple tapestries hanging against the charcoal stone walls, then down at the little flames that seemed to be licking the edges of the floor. "Never heard of it before. It's not in Hongdae, is it?"

"No."

"Oh. Okay. Good, because I know... I know that neighborhood." Baekhyun swallowed; licked his lips. "And you are...?"

"Kyungsoo." Kyungsoo's eyes flashed and Baekhyun looked a little closer, clutching the bedcovers to his chest because he was shirtless and in his boxers and it was becoming clear that he actually hadn't met this guy before. As he looked, the man's eyes seemed to shift like burning coals, the surface melting and falling away just for more to roil to the surface. Kyungsoo was looking back at him just as hard, his expression unreadable, his eyes screen enough from anything he might have been thinking. 

"Kyungsoo. Okay. Kyungsoo." It was a pretty name that fell easily from Baekhyun's tongue, and it fit well with the presence before him. He took in the man's white t-shirt and black slacks. Looked around the apartment for some clue as to where they were. Was it a house? Where were the windows? "Kyungsoo, would it be too much to ask if I asked you to tell me where the fuck I am and how I got here? And also, if you have any clothing I could borrow? As long as you're not planning to ax-murder me, that is. Well, or rape me actually, because that would..." Baekhyun trailed off, realizing that talking probably wasn't a good idea.

"You're in hell, Baekhyun," Kyungsoo replied gently—so gently that Baekhyun almost took it as a rational, measured response, the sort of thing that could calm down a speeding heart. "You'll be back Up There soon enough, don't worry. You're only dreaming."

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow, but when Kyungsoo didn't flinch, he raised his wrist to his mouth and nipped at the skin until a tiny crimson drop of blood leaked out. "Dreaming my ass, Kyungsoo."

Kyungsoo's eyes sparkled with amusement and he leaned against the back of the sofa facing away from the bed, folding his arms over his chest. "Either you have a very high pain tolerance or very sharp teeth," he murmured, but somehow his voice carried, and Baekhyun heard him. Baekhyun had learned from the first time he'd talked, so instead of replying, he settled for his best glower. "In any case, you'll be staying with me awhile, as my guest," Kyungsoo explained. "We are in hell, but I wouldn't worry too much, since you're only seeing the scariest parts. And the scariest parts always masquerade as the sexiest. You'll be returned to where you came from soon enough, and when you do get back, no time will have gone by. In that way, it is like a dream. I'll require your assistance at court, which I'm sure you'll like more than your boring desk job. I'll have Jaehyun bring in some cloths for you." The last sentence was said with some measure of regret, and Baekhyun didn't miss an ounce of it. 

A younger boy emerged from a side door in the apartment, dressed casually in jeans and a black t-shirt, but standing very respectfully, with his eyes cast downwards, waiting for instructions, something folded in his hands. Kyungsoo strode over to take it, pulling it onto his own body: a black dress shirt, which he rolled up to the elbows and then tucked in thoroughly before seeming to remember Baekhyun was there, watching him in silent fascination. "Jaehyun, bring Baekhyun some clothing, hm? Baekhyun, I hope you don't mind something sexy. You will admit you're perfect eyecandy for the court of perverts we've got here." He winked and then strode across the bedroom, opening a dark-stained wood door and disappearing.

Baekhyun immediately scrambled across the bed, reeling back when he hit a solid invisible wall that gently repelled him back onto the plush covers. He swore—loudly. Then he extended a cautious finger, prodding at the offensive barrier in awe. "No fucking way," he breathed. "Magic. Is real." And he lay on his back repeating that to himself until Jaehyun returned with clothing for him and the barrier somehow just fell away (the door was still locked, though. And so were the various doors in the armoire.). 

The poor servant didn't stand a chance.

"Where did Kyungsoo go? Why are his eyes like that? Why are your eyes like that? Are we really in hell? How did he do that barrier thing? What other things can he do? Are we really beneath the earth's surface? Is this scientifically possible? Why am I here? What's the court? Who's the king, don't courts have kings? What are you doing here? Are you a demon? Are—" Baekhyun sputtered as leather pants that seemed to merely be two swaths of material tied together were thrown at him, followed by a silken black shirt. 

"To a party, because they are, because they are, yes, he's powerful, a lot, no, no, you're his toy, the court is just like any other court, Lucifer is as close to a king as you can get, I'm kind of like Kyungsoo's servant, and yes, I am a demon." Jaehyun folded his arms in front of him and looked like he was waiting for something.

"Oh," was what he got from Baekhyun. The smaller toyed with the clothing he'd been given. Then, "You want me to wear this?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Jaehyun shrugged. "A toy's a toy. Kyungsoo's just more polite than most. There's food in there." He pointed to a nondescript door towards the back of the room Baekhyun hadn't noticed before. "You'll only get to eat when you're here, because demons don't. And the bathroom's there." He pointed again, to a different door. Baekhyun just nodded dumbly. "I'll leave you to change." Jaehyun disappeared behind the same door Kyungsoo had left through and Baekhyun was left alone, and locked away (he made sure). 

'Court' could more accurately be described as a party. Baekhyun wished Kyungsoo had given him some sort of warning, like, 'your senses are about to be absofuckinglutely dazzled' or something, because it smelled and looked like the definition of opulence. All Kyungsoo had really told him was to stick close by and not to speak unless spoken to, two rules which Baekhyun did not intend to follow. There was a sunken section towards the back of the huge room full of beautiful people, but Kyungsoo and Baekhyun stayed in the main area, joining up with a tall, lithe demon with dark skin and a graceful way of moving.

"Lucy just doesn't take a break," the demon commented as Kyungsoo drew up beside him, placing a champagne flute in Kyungsoo's hand. "I thought he couldn't outdo himself with mine. But shit. He tried."

Kyungsoo shrugged. "I think he's trying to break me or something," he confessed, stepping to the side to admire Baekhyun with the other demon. "Trying to keep me cooped up in my quarters for some reason."

"Or maybe he just likes you," replied the other demon, amusement sparkling in his eyes. "I'm jealous, in any case. I'm Jongin, pretty thing," he said, addressing Baekhyun directly. "If your demon ever wants to share you just let me know." He lifted a hand to trace Baekhyun's cheekbone, but Kyungsoo batted his hand away playfully, that mild smile still stuck on his face. Baekhyun wondered if there was anything Jongin could do to make Kyungsoo angry. He wondered if Kyungsoo got angry. Baekhyun raised an eyebrow at Jongin. The demon was hot.

An hour later, Baekhyun was tired of standing and being fairly ignored for low conversation he somehow couldn't decipher, even though it seemed to be in his language. Kyungsoo had his back to him, head close to another demon's, voice a low velvet in the murmur of voices in the vast stone windowless chamber. Baekhyun craned his head, looking around for something to eat or someone who looked amiable to talk to. There close to the depressed section of the room was a woman leaning against the wall, eyes masked in dark smoky makeup, lips stained a deep red. She was alone, and seemed to be watching everyone like an outsider. Her strawberry blonde hair was knotted into a complicated side braid that reached down to her waist.

Baekhyun took a few cautious steps back, watching for Kyungsoo to whip around and do something demonic, but the demon was wholly engrossed in his conversation, and Baekhyun successfully slipped away to sidle up to the svelte woman. He wasn't exactly sure how to introduce himself, and he was sure she was a demon too, if solely judging by her eyes. 

Luckily, he didn't have to. "Would you be more scared of an army that had never been defeated or a man who could defeat an army?" She asked, her voice sounding like the echo of tinkling bells.

"The army," Baekhyun replied. "It's easier to trick a man than an army. Fighting is stupid, anyway. I'm—"

"A toy," she sneered, her eyes briefly flicking down to sweep over his form disinterestedly. "He should at least keep you all on leash. Like that one courtier of his. Tell me, does your demon become more amiable once he's had his fill of fucking? Is that what he gets you for?"

"Ma'm, I'm afraid I don't have a fucking clue what you're talking about," Baekhyun sighed. "I haven't even fucked him yet. Although at this point, I'd welcome it, over being ignored like this. I wonder what a demon is like in bed."

She chuckled softly. "I just hope he lets you live," she replied softly, and then Baekhyun felt a jerk at the base of his spine, and then it was like part of his mind was taken over, the part that made him move, and someone else was moving him back towards where Kyungsoo had been standing. Realizing he still had control of his neck and face, he turned to look at the woman he'd been talking to, who was tracking his path with no small measure of amusement. She gave him a small nod, then his neck, too, was turned towards Kyungsoo and he swallowed bile at the way his body was being manhandled. It felt more intimate than anything he'd ever experienced.

When he finally got to Kyungsoo, he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, not even a choked gasp, like there was a barrier in his throat through which no sound could pass. So he stood there, immobile and dumb, as Kyungsoo's gaze raked across him, and realized that, yes, Kyungsoo got mad. It was a subtle, terrifying sort of mad, wherein his jaw clenched tightly and small indentations appeared above his eyebrows. Tension was made plain in the slope of his shoulders. But without saying anything, Kyungsoo just turned on his heel and wove his way out of the party, Baekhyun on his heels, and, surprisingly, a party of four or five other demons right behind him.

A tense silence followed them all the way back to Kyungsoo's quarters. Once everyone had filed in, Kyungsoo guided Baekhyun's body to stand stock-straight in front of the crackling fire that gave off no heat and the rest of them arranged themselves in a huddled circle on the furniture. Joongki was the first to speak. "We can't tell Lucy."

"Of course we have to tell Lucy," Taemin insisted. "He's the only one who can smooth it all over. You know he'd get mad as fuck if we didn't tell him and he learned it from some offhand comment from Diana."

"No," said Kyungsoo quietly. "No, we don't tell Lucy. If he realizes how much this went sideways none of us will get toys ever again, and none of us wants that." He looked at each demon individually, and each one seemed to shrink, agreeing with him.

"Well what did she say? It's an opportunity, at least," pointed out Luhan. "None of us ever get to talk to her directly. Bless human stupidity."

The look on Kyungsoo's face said that he was not feeling charitable towards human stupidity, but he turned towards Baekhyun all the same. "Baekhyun," he said, his voice still shockingly smooth, "I'd like you to tell us every detail of the conversation you just had. You happen to have had it with the most powerful demon in the whole realm, and I don't think I can impress the importance of this on you enough."

Baekhyun shifted uncomfortably. Shit. She hadn't looked that different from everybody else. He opened his mouth.

"I'll know if you lie, Baekhyun," Kyungsoo added. Baekhyun shivered. He wasn't used to people using his full name like that, with that lilting, coddling tone that made him re-evaluate who he really was. 

"Well," he started, licking his lips and realizing that now sound would come from his mouth, "First she asked me if I'd be more scared of an army that had never been defeated or a man who could defeat an army." The demons looked at each other uncomfortably. "And I told her the army, because it's easier to trick a man. Then she said that that—he?—should keep us all on a leash like that one courtier." Jongin smirked and everyone looked at him a moment, sharing an inside joke. Then she asked me—" he licked his lips again.

"Go on," urged Kyungsoo.

"—if my demon got nicer after we had sex." A sussurus among the demons. "And then I told her we hadn't because my demon was boring and then she said she just hoped you'd let me live and then you controlled my body back. How do you do that, by the way? It's fucking creepy. You could just ask. Do you have, like, telekinesis or something? I'd honestly prefer—" sound stopped coming out of his mouth and Baekhyun huffed silently.

Minho was the first to speak. "You haven't fucked him yet?" His voice was kind of incredulous, his eyes flicking from Baekhyun's ass to Kyungsoo and back. Kyungsoo just glowered.

"I don't see how it's a bad thing. Lucy's always wanted a little leverage." Joongki sighed, resting his elbows on his knees, his eyes a roiling mess. "If she thinks we're an army, we're an army. We just have to be an unthreatening one. I mean, she always has her own. Lucy doesn't have to know. He's been helpful, anyway. She thinks Lucy controls us with sex."

Jongin scoffed. "Bullshit," he said. "She was just playing with the wide-eyed thing. Look at him, he just has a mouth, and it can't help but move." His eyes floated back to Baekhyun, who had his lips pressed into a thin line. "But I'm sure Kyungsoo will take care of that. We should actually probably get out before the guy gets primal." The lithe demon rose in one fluid motion, buttoning his suit jacket, and the rest of the demons followed suit, bidding a quiet goodbye to Kyungsoo until finally it was just the two of them facing each other in an empty apartment.

Baekhyun squirmed as much as he could under Kyungsoo's gaze. Then the demon issued a silent command and Baekhyun's fingers went to the hem of his shirt, his mouth falling open. You haven't fucked him yet? Like it was the most ridiculous notion ever. The shirt came over his head slowly, almost like a tease, slipping to the floor in a pool of forgotten silk. His shoes were next, and by now Baekhyun was biting hard on his lower lip. It was all so much stranger without control. He would do this anyway, but when someone else was doing it for him, from across the room... 

They hadn't provided him with underwear. The pants fell away to reveal his half-hard cock and then Baekhyun was kneeling to the carpet, knees sinking into the red plushness against, really, his will, his hands coming to rest on his thighs. They were warm to the touch—all of him was warm. A pressure began in the nape of his neck and spread to the rest of his skull, forcing his chin down until he was looking down at the floor, bowing his head to Kyungsoo above him. 

Finally, the demon rose and took his time approaching Baekhyun. A rough, warm finger sliding under his chin, tipping his head until he was craning it back to look at Kyungsoo's face. "How about it? Jongin did say you have a mouth," the demon mused, pressing a thumb through Baekhyun's lips. Baekhyun sucked on it a little, veins singing in excitement at whatever sort of game this was. At least Kyungsoo was finally playing with him. 

Kyungsoo was undoing the button and fly on his pants, his muscles rippling even beneath his fine dress shirt. "“It can’t help but move. But I know something he doesn’t: talking’s not even what you do best with it.," he continued, and his lips tugged backwards into a satisfied half-smile as Baekhyun lowered his eyes to the cock in front of him. Baekhyun hollowed his cheeks the moment Kyungsoo pushed through his lips, sucking hard for the low breath of a groan his demon made in approval. He knew Kyungsoo hadn't been expecting it—probably hadn't been expecting anything. 

As Kyungsoo began to fuck his mouth in earnest, he determined to prove Kyungsoo wrong. He kept his tongue swirling and pressed against the hot member, fighting his gag reflex as Kyungsoo hit the back of his throat. Kyungsoo stroked a finger with appraising tenderness along Baekhyun's cheekbone as he moved in his mouth, then faltered. The demon seemed shocked for a good moment, captivated as Baekhyun blinked away tears as he looked up at him, mouth stretched wide. There was a certain coiled anger in the way Kyungsoo fucked that made Baekhyun feel slightly embarrassed, and slightly apologetic.

Then both of his hands carded through Baekhyun's hair and pulled him fully onto his cock, warning enough before he spilled down Baekhyun's throat with a low groan, keeping the human held close to him. He didn't need to; Baekhyun swallowed enthusiastically, and when Kyungsoo pulled out, he pulled off with a pop, licking his lips in satisfaction. If this was what it was going to be like the whole time, maybe hell wouldn’t be so bad. He opened his mouth to speak, then realized—

He was still mute. Now it was Kyungsoo's turn to speak, as he put his cock back in his boxers for the time being and began to unbotton his dress shirt. "Aren't you enthusiastic." And it was like he had a private joke, with himself. The dress shirt fell to the floor and he said, "Bedroom, Baekhyun. Now." The words were quietly brimming with authority. How was it that when this particular demon said his full name in those rich tones it sent shiver down his spine to pool in his cock immediately?

He knew Kyungsoo could just make him, but he decided it was probably best to listen, so he rose to his feet and padded to the bedroom. When the demon entered, firelight glinting playfully off his bare tanned chest, Baekhyun was leaning against the headboard, silk sheets pulled demurely over his lower half, legs opened invitingly.

The demon shook his head. "You really don't get it, do you?" he asked. It took him four strides to get to the end of the bed, and he yanked the sheets from the bed entirely, so that it was just the white bed, and Baekhyun. Then he leaned a knee on the bed and the human was bodily dragged down the bed and manhandled onto all fours with a squeal. It occurred to Baekhyun, as Kyungsoo pressed his back into a curve, that he could have just made him do it instead of forcing him physically, but then a wet, cool finger was pressing into him without preamble and he was keening, pressing his chest down into the soft bed.

He was whining. He was making sounds, but they weren't leaving his throat. Instead, the demon's breathing seemed amplified and powerful as it puffed in his ear and Baekhyun felt Kyungsoo's weight on top of him. "Look at you," he breathed, his finger working Baekhyun open to the song of a sweet burn, "A spoiled fucking princess, waiting for me to fuck you—" he added a finger and Baekhyun pushed his ass back onto Kyungsoo's fingers, trying to fuck himself deeper— "just right." His fingers curled and a low, shivering groan escaped Baekhyun's mouth, then his throat caught in surprise that sound had actually escaped.

An amused huff puffed over his neck. Then the fingers withdrew and a sharp smack echoed in the room followed by a stinging that spread across Baekhyun's ass. The human grunted in shock, his head falling forward, his ass unsure of whether it wanted to push back onto Kyungsoo's fingers or forward away from his palm. He ground backwards when Kyungsoo began kneading the flesh, then moaned again, clenching his jaw, when Kyungsoo set another smack burning on his ass.

The demon intoned, ”I fuck you, and nobody else," his other hand gripping Baekhyun's hip to steady him. Another slap, then the fingers were back in him, three at once, not moving quite so fast anymore. Baekhyun let out a long, loud moan. I wonder what a demon is like in bed. That's what he'd said to her. Now, surely, he was paying for it. Surely Kyungsoo had heard somehow, with whatever powers being demonic gave you.

"In the future," Kyungsoo continued, his voice calm and nearly conversational, "you stay by my side."  _Slap_. Baekhyun jerked as Kyungsoo massaged the right place inside of him but Kyungsoo had his hands wrapped around the base of his cock and he wasn't cumming any time soon. "You don't speak unless spoken to."  _Slap._  There was a pause, and Baekhyun clenched, and then he felt the thick head of his demon teasing at his entrance. 

A tumble of whiny moans escaped his mouth, his hands fisting in the sheets as he pressed himself back, trying to suck it in. They would have been pleas if they had been intelligible. "Have I made myself perfectly clear?" Kyungsoo asked mildly.

Baekhyun didn’t understand. Or rather, he hadn’t understood, and now he did, at least a little bit. This demon had always intended to join them like this, to tether him, to have him begging and submissive and everything a toy was, even for whatever short duration Baekhyun was to remain with him. He hadn’t understood how completely it was going to take him over. How completely Kyungsoo was going to take him over.

It was a clever leverage point, in that Baekhyun was teased open and leaking onto the sheet below him, the head of his cock just brushing the bed as he tried to rock back onto the demon. His voice had been toyed with so much that it took a frustrating amount of time for him to vocalize his response, which escaped his lips in a puff of pleading exasperation. “ _Yes.”_

“Yes. _Mine,”_ Kyungsoo practically growled, and slid into Baekhyun, his stomach coming flush with the human’s trembling back. It was a slow, fluid thrust, and the demon didn’t pause when Baekhyun was totally full. He seemed to always be in service of the drag inside his human.

There was little left for Baekhyun to do but give in to the fullness, and to whimpering the little _yeses_ that it felt like Kyungsoo allowed him, rising in pitch and whine when his demon pounded his prostate and lulling to a mellifluous, tangled mess when he dragged himself through the human’s body slowly and sensually.

The first time Baekhyun’s chest began to tremble, Kyungsoo stilled completely, pressing a tender kiss to the sweaty nape of his neck before pulling out briefly to flip him over, hands gripping at the soft flesh of his thighs and pushing them up so Baekhyun’s knees came to his head. 

He re-entered Baekhyun fluidly, so that his eyes hovered just above the human’s, his breath disturbing the human’s soft brown bangs. The movement of air reminded Baekhyun to breathe, and he let out a rush of air as Kyungsoo began to move again, blinking slowly, enraptured by the shifting edges of his demon’s eyes that glowed with the whispered promise of the fire that Baekhyun felt in his gut, and like coals in his chest.

Baekhyun came when Kyungsoo trailed a finger up the underside of his cock and sank into him one last time, biting down hard on the juncture between his neck and shoulder. It was permission, that one finger, and its path up the smooth, pulsing skin, and Baekhyun was instantly shivering and clenching around him, cum painting their stomachs in violent threads.

Kyungsoo folded Baekhyun’s legs even more, hanging onto Baekhyun with his teeth and fucking him until the human was whimpering and purple, finger-shaped were flushing on his thighs. His groan was low, and muffled by skin, but Baekhyun felt it inside him, and milked it despite himself. 

He startled when he felt Kyungsoo’s tongue against the stinging skin of his neck where he’d been biting, then a little sigh fluttered from him as he felt just the demon’s soft lips finally on his lips, praising him in warmth and velvety luxury; Baekhyun accepted them eagerly, his legs falling back onto the bed slowly as Kyungsoo pulled out.

“Whose are you?” He asked one more time, standing before the bed, biceps shining in a light sheen of sweat as he drew up his fly.

Baekhyun, still catching his breath on the bed, blinked, his eyelashes feeling wet with something salty. 

“Yours?” It was forced from his chest and ended in a question, as if the boy had no idea what had just happened to him, but realized that it was something of gravity. 

“Good,” Kyungsoo replied, approvingly, that soft smile returning to his lips. They still glistened a little, and they were more swollen than before. His eyes had returned to their normal shifting, dull red—mild and unassuming. Baekhyun swallowed around a considerably drier throat. _I wonder what a demon is like in bed._

Apparently, demons weren’t the sort to stay afterwards. 

Baekhyun stayed on the bed for a few minutes after Kyungsoo had left the room, feeling the demon’s cum seeping out of him, catching his breath and his bearings. Then Jaehyun appeared, and he lifted his head, snapping his legs together and grabbing at the bedcovers that had fallen in front of the bed, quickly covering himself. Jaehyun seemed unbothered, anyway.

“There’s food out, or if you want to take a shower,” he said. He deposited what looked like a new set of clothes on the nightstand.

“Wait!” Baekhyun said, drawing the sheets tighter around his waist. “Where did Kyungsoo go? Am I just supposed to stay here? Am I imprisoned again?”

Jaehyun sighed. “Are you always going to have so many questions? I mean, if you are, it would be nice if you could keep them to yourself. Just a few of them. Anyway, the boss went to a private party, and toys don’t go. Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of parties to go to in the future. Although I doubt he’ll be taking you to any joint-court parties, after the stunt you pulled with Diana.”

“Diana? Was that the girl I talked to?”

“The _girl_ you talked to was the mistress of hell, dumbass.” Jaehyun folded his arms, flicking the hair out of his face. His eyes weren’t as fiery as Kyungsoo’s or Jongin’s or their friends—more a crackling brown. “Lucy, the guy who picked you out? He’s basically _her_ toy. So. Look, I don’t even know why I’m talking to you—he probably fucked you into submission already.” Jaehyun cast a cursory glance around the bedroom then turned, his face barely departing its bored expression. 

Left to empty quarters again, Baekhyun sighed and padded towards the marbled bathroom, intent on a scathingly hot shower. 

* * *

He didn’t see Kyungsoo again until he was waking up, the dry taste of sleep sedentary in his mouth and sleepy dust crowding his eyes. Kyungsoo was fully dressed in a suit and black bowtie, his hair swept away from his face.

“Ten minutes,” he said. “We’re going to a party, Baekhyun.” And he had only to say Baekhyun’s name and the human was up and dressing, carefully doing his eyeliner the way he knew made him look irresistible. The clothes today were skintight jeans and a mesh tank top that was justsee-through enough too see his nipples. 

“If you keep grumbling about the shirt,” Kyungsoo murmured on their way there, “I’ll have to silence you again, but it’s rather embarrassing to have to use those sort of tactics in public.”

Baekhyun stopped grumbling under his breath, checking his step so he walked a half step behind his demon. They stopped in front of a huge oak door, even bigger than the one to Kyungsoo’s apartment, and Kyungsoo pushed it open familiarly. 

The space inside was huge—three times as big as the biggest rooms in Kyungsoo’s quarters at least, and included a bar, an empty cage, furniture scattered about, and a large open space at the front. Farther back, if Baekhyun craned his head, he could see what looked like a huge bed, but he wasn’t sure. A studio? But this demon was surely more highly ranked than Kyungsoo.

Although… he looked at the empty cage. Clearly _Kyungsoo_ was in favor at the moment, or else that cage would be occupied. 

“Kyungsoo! Kyungsoo and pet!” It was Jongin, who unlike the other demons was in a simple black t-shirt and ripped skinny jeans. Baekhyun could tell he was in charge by the set of his shoulders and his comfort in the space. But he was smiling now, a deep dimple forming in his cheek as he swept his gaze over Baekhyun. “Submissive pet.” He winked at Kyungsoo. “More’s the pity.”

“What’s the gossip, Jongin? You rarely hold a party without a reason.” Kyungsoo got straight to business. 

“Woobin’s doppleganger was picked off the other day Up There and Lucy suspects foul play. Poor demon dropped dead in the middle of a full glass of wine. And you remember Tao stole that key briefly when I had Sehun.” Jongin ran a hand through his hair. Baekhyun watched in fascination at the grace with which this demon seemed to pass through life. No product in his hair, no suit, no tie. He had to be powerful. And his eyes said that he was.

“Couldn’t have been Tao,” Kyungsoo replied. “And he’s not ballsy enough to contract it out. _Plus_ —Jongin, when’s the last time he _had_ a toy? Baekhyun,” he said, a thought occurring to him. “Do you see that demon over there?” He pointed to a tall, dark skinned, blonde-haired demon leaning against the fireplace. He was laughing at something a petite demon in an impossibly short dress had said—and didn’t look very dangerous at all. Still, Baekhyun nodded obediently. “You don’t talk to him,” Kyungsoo said, then turned back to Jongin.

“It was a coincidence, actually,” Luhan said, approaching the group. He was dressed sharply in a navy blue suit and skinny tie. “Nothing to do with the hellish at all. Woobin Up There finally dated somebody too beautiful, or fucked her, or something. Anyway, crazy boyfriend.”

“The problem is Lucy,” Jongin explained. “If he gets a whiff of it—you remember the last time someone’s dopp that was in contact with a past toy died. We didn’t get any for, like a decade.” His pout was monumental, and Baekhyun idly wondered what it would be like to kiss someone so comfortable in his own skin. 

He knew what it was like. Kyungsoo had kissed him. Baekhyun bit his lip. 

“I take it Tao’s the problem, though,” Kyungsoo replied quietly. “If someone even starts the fucking rumor we’re dead.”

“He’d start it for shits and giggles, just to get back at Jongin for that tall blonde one he had.” Taemin had overhead them and walked up with his hands in his pockets, dressed all in white. Baekhyun blinked, blinded for a moment. _Why were all these people so beautiful._

_So the dark blonde one is bitter about not having a pet,_ Baekhyun thought, and tugged on Kyungsoo’s jacket sleeve. He knew he couldn’t do anything less subtle —and if he dared speak he had no idea what the demon would do. 

Kyungsoo leaned down and lent Baekhyun his ear, indicating that Baekhyun could whisper to him, a broad hand wrapping around the human’s waist. “I can keep him quiet, if you want,” Baekhyun offered. “If he wants a toy.”

That was all he had to say, and Kyungsoo presently stood again and continued speaking with the other demons, talk moving to something Baekhyun didn’t understand: “How is that toy you had doing Up There, Jongin?” Luhan asked.

“Still has the hots for me,” Jongin replied. “But I’m innocent as ever, you know. Really I am. I’ll ask him out eventually, I’m sure. I think I’m having fun watching him make moon eyes at me.”

Taemin shook his head unbelievingly. “I still can’t believe he found you Up There. Do you remember when Diana said that happened, like, once a century? Lucky shit.” 

Jongin grinned like a lucky shit. But Kyungsoo was gently guiding Baekhyun away from the crowd, towards a secluded corner where they couldn’t be overheard. There, Baekhyun felt the familiar grip fall over his body as he was made to stand very straight against the wall and Kyungsoo leaned against the wall next to him, his lips inches from the human’s ear.

“Baekhyun,” he said, tasting the name, rolling it around in his mouth. “Baekhyun.” It was a velvet rumble. “What did I tell you last night? Are you that forgetful?” He was smiling, so Baekhyun smiled too, despite the shivers shooting down his spine. This felt like a game.

“You told me a lot of things last night.”

“Like what?”

“Like I have to stay by your side.”

Kyungsoo nodded, indicated for him to keep going. “Like… like I’m yours.” 

“What else, Baekhyun? You’ve forgotten something.”

Baekhyun hummed like he was trying to remember. “It was something about fucking. It was rather crude, but I don’t really remember. You’ll have to remind me.”

“I’ll have to remind you?” Kyungsoo repeated. Anticipatory excitement sparkled in his roiling eyes and his hand had wandered to Baekhyun’s waist. He let it wander up the sheer shirt to Baekhyun’s nipple, pausing there. Then he moved his finger to the deep purple bruise on Baekhyun’s neck that bad barely begun to heal. He pressed lightly and Baekhyun would have moaned if sound had come out. But Kyungsoo had silenced him.

Baekhyun was begging for it with his eyes. 

Suddenly, Kyungsoo had pulled away, and Baekhyun couldn’t move. He was left there to follow Kyungsoo with his eyes as the demon moved back into the party to rejoin Minho and Jongin. Then, suddenly, sound assaulted his senses. 

“Where’s the toy?” Minho asked blithely. 

“Timeout,” Kyungsoo replied smoothly. “Anyway, I think I have a solution for the Tao problem.”

“Kyungsoo, the last time you killed someone Diana favored you and Lucy annoyed me about it for, like two centuries,” Jongin complained.

“I’m not going to kill him,” Kyungsoo insisted. “He just wants to be a part of everything. Tell me I’m wrong. He’s a good kid. When did he get Made, like, three centuries ago? I know you’re a prodigy, Jongin, but he’s not that much older than you.”

“I suppose,” Jongin grumbled. Baekhyun devoured the information. _So Jongin was young. So young and so powerful._

“So I’ll let him watch me and my toy. Give him something to see while he fucks that cute little demon that’s always with him.”

Minho laughed—Baekhyun’s stomach flipped. He looked back at the demon leaning against the fireplace. Was this his punishment? To be observed? 

“It could just rile him up more,” said a demon with high cheekbones and slanted, catlike eyes. 

Kyungsoo had a response. “Then he makes a mistake, and Lucy doesn’t believe him.”

There was a pause in the conversation, and everybody seemed to be waiting for Jongin’s opinion. “Okay,” Jongin said finally. “But let me talk to him first. I like him, for what it’s worth.” And then the audio cut out and the chatter of the party filled in again. Baekhyun watched Jongin prowl over to Tao and easily dismiss the demon he’d been talking to, wrapping an easy arm around his shoulder. Their speech looked close and intimate, and Baekhyun couldn’t hear a word.

He expected his demon to come for him then. He waited for some sound, or the sight of the well-dressed demon full of presence coming towards him, but nothing came. No one approached him. And eventually, Baekhyun had to pee. He’d eaten right before they’d come, since Jaehyun had told him it would be a while before his next meal. 

Jongin’s huge apartment was nearly empty when he saw Kyungsoo’s form again, jacketless and bowtieless, coming towards him. He let out a breath of relief. 

The moment his vocal chords were free, it was: “I have to pee. Kyungsoo, I have to _pee.”_

_“_ Yes, fine,” Kyungsoo replied, releasing Baekhyun from his place and leading him through the stone halls of hellto a room Baekhyun had never been to before. Inside was a medium-sized fireplace, the normal tapestries, and a king-sized bed. Against the wall was a deeply-cushioned couch, and beside it was a table loaded with champagne. Kyungsoo gestured at a door to the side where Baekhyun could go to the bathroom. 

He looked just like he always had in the mirror—like he always had in front of a fire, since that’s how everything was lit here. His face glowed a little more down here. It was strange—in hell, he should look worse, not better. But his eyes looked like sex ringed in black sin, and his hair looked perfectly run-through. 

This was what he did. This was what he loved. This was a game and Kyungsoo played it better than anyone he’d ever met. He told himself that one more time before going back into the bedroom, butterflies killing themselves in their attempts to escape his stomach.

Tao was in the room.

So was Jongin.

So was Kyungsoo. The demon cut into his line of sight so he couldn’t see the other two demons reclining on the couch, and Baekhyun felt that he couldn’t talk. But then he felt, as if Kyungsoo were whispering it to him, _not yet. You can’t talk yet._

“Today,” Kyungsoo said, as he directed Baekhyun to a kneeling position on the bed, “You’re going to learn to see only me in the room.” Baekhyun’s arms lifted the mesh top off to expose peaked nipples to the open air. He could feel the energy of the other two demons coiled on the couch—so much energy. 

Kyungsoo’s burning eyes, in front of him. “I’ve decided to give a lesson,” Kyungsoo said in that quiet voice that could carry for miles, “On how to fuck. Everyone here could benefit—except Jongin, who can just enjoy.” 

He unbuttoned his dress shirt, but no more. Baekhyun drank in the sliver of tan skin provided. Sitting against the headboard, Kyungsoo’s voice echoed like the voice of God in the small, intimate chamber. “Face me. Good. Pants. Roll them off… just… like… _that._ A little rubbing… do you want your voice, pet?” Nodding. “There you go. Whimpering is good. There’s lube right there. Go ahead, you don’t need underwear. Go on.” Mild-mannered encouragements.

Baekhyun was already moaning, his eyes stuck on Kyungsoo’s in a trance of red and brown and black pupil as he brought a slick finger to his entrance. Three pairs of eyes turned to one as he watched Kyungsoo watch him through his lashes. 

Kyungsoo _tsked._ His fingers made quick work of his fly and he brought a mostly-hard, flushed cock out of his boxers, stroking it lightly. Baekhyun watched every movement and licked his lips subconsciously. “There, you want this, don’t you. Look here, Baekhyun.” His name spoken in those mellifluous tones had Baekhyun leaking from his head. “Go on. Don’t let me stop you.” Kyungsoo was smirking.

Baekhyun sank his finger back into himself, moving at the same speed as Kyungsoo’s stroking like a puppet. “Tilt your ass out away a little bit, so they can see,” cam Kyungsoo’s voice dreamily, and Baekhyun did as he was told. “Two fingers.” Baekhyun whined as his fingers curled to hit his prostate; he adored his fingers, and their length and dexterity. Kyungsoo appeared to be enjoying them as well. 

“Stop.” Baekhyun’s fingers stuttered to a halt and he groaned, bucking up into the air in frustration, his near-orgasm shuddering through him. _How had Kyungsoo known_? Why did he keep staring at his demon? Why was he searching for the next words from his demon like they were the stuff that kept him alive?

“Do you want this?” Kyungsoo’s cock was flushed and throbbing, a dark red and leaking slightly at the tip. Baekhyun swallowed around cotton in his mouth.

“Yes.” He’d already learned to answer questions expressly.

“How’s your memory doing?”

“M-my memory?” 

“Something about fucking?” The corners of Kyungsoo’s mouth tugged upwards as he flung Baekhyun’s own words back at him.

Baekhyun felt the traces of Kyungsoo in his body leave and he was up immediately, crawling towards Kyungsoo on the bed. The first thing his mouth found was the head of Kyungsoo’s cock, and he got in a good suckle before Kyungsoo’s fingers threaded through his hair and brought his head farther up. Soft, beautiful, clouds of lips. Sensual, addicting lips that he never wanted to leave. That he’d suffocate for. That felt like heaven instead of hell. 

Baekhyun tugged, annoyed, at Kyungsoo’s shirt. Kyungsoo chuckled and released his toy’s hair to allow him to take off his shirt, catching his jaw like a cat after a mouse and bringing it up from his nipple back to his mouth. “Go ahead. Sit down, Baekhyun. Let them see it. What did I say?”I fuck you, nobody else.

Kyungsoo’s lips scraped Baekhyun’s, their breath mingling, as Baekhyun lined himself up and slowly began to sink, arching his back and taking Kyungsoo with a soft exhale of breath, clutching his demon’s solid shoulders. Kyungsoo’s hands rested easily at his knees, not helping him at all but for his breath on Baekhyun’s lips, which was the most encouragement Baekhyun could ever need or want.

There was a muffled sound from behind him, but before Baekhyun could turn and look, Kyungsoo captured his lips again and slammed into him with his hips, hitting his prostate dead-on. A stunned groan poured into the demon’s mouth and he fell into Kyungsoo slightly, sweat beginning to bead on his body. 

“Do you want to know what they’re doing behind you?” Kyungsoo whispered into his ear, lips hot and wet as he ground into his demon. 

Baekhyun couldn’t respond.

“I think they’re about to fuck, to be honest. Jongin needs somewhere to put his dick.” A breathy laugh, but Baekhyun was too caught up in sensation to quite process. Kyungsoo was thrusting into him so that he bounced up with every thrust, unable to quite release the tension building inside him because his mouth was being kissed and kissed and kissed. 

Then, all of a sudden, Kyungsoo stopped: stopped kissing, stopped running his hands over Baekhyun’s ass and up his sides and over his nipples. Stopped thrusting into the human. The fire in his eyes flashed. “How’s your memory, Baekhyun?” He asked again.

Baekhyun, trembling, began bouncing on his cock, quite ignoring him and chasing his own ends. Stern fingers tightened on his thighs, pinning him onto Kyungsoo’s lap. A desperate whimper echoed in the chamber, and then a high moan that wasn’t his. 

“He’s copying your toy, Soo,” came a rough, deep voice from across the room. Kyungsoo’s hands on his thighs tightened more. Then the demon gripped his body itself, keeping it still and trembling, and he moved his hands to Baekhyun’s dick between them. Baekhyun’s body fought itself, but the one thing his demon left untouched was Baekhyun’s mouth. 

“You fuck me,” he said finally, tears beading in the corners of his eyes, his chest heaving as he watched Kyungsoo’s glistening lips tease him. “And nobody else.”

The lips drew back into a triumphant smile. Pulled together to form, “One more time for me, baby.”

“And nobody—ahh— _else_.” The tension in his body was released and Baekhyun fell into Kyungsoo’s firm chest, weakly rocking against his cock, his own dick angry and heavy against his stomach. 

Kyungsoo’s lips were a relief, and the demon flipped him gently so he was nestled in the soft bed, wrapping Baekhyun’s legs around his waist and grinding _just so_ , so that with each thrust he hit where he needed to. He let Baekhyun throw his head back and moan, he let Baekhyun run his hands through his hair and then grip his shoulders closer, like a child hugging a toy.

Baekhyun came with _yes_ the chant on his lips again. Kyungsoo pulled out once the toy had ridden out his orgasm, and had him swallow his own load, lips stretched wide around Kyungsoo’s wet cock. 

Jongin and Tao weren’t done yet—they didn’t look close to being done. A light sheen of sweat shone on Jongin’s tanned chest as he lifted his hips to meet the demon moving on top of him. They were fascinating to watch, from a purely aesthetic standpoint: a tangle of long, tan limbs, taught muscles and lithe hips. 

Kyungsoo’s fingers carded through his hair, and if Baekhyun could purr, he would have. “They’ll be at it for a while,” his demon murmured. “Let’s go home. We’ll be at it a while, too.” 

Baekhyun shifted his eyes to Kyungsoo, who was already standing, mostly dressed. The demon sighed, surveying his toy’s bare state. “Well.” He slipped his arms under Baekhyun’s arms and knees, bringing him to his chest like a baby. “Got to get there somehow.”

Baekhyun giggled. “I can stand, you know.”

“Mm, this is more fun.” And he carried Baekhyun out of that room butt naked, the smell of sex and Tao’s high moans chasing them. 

“Won’t somebody—“

“No, Jongin cleaned out the halls for us. Perks of Lucy loving him. Understandable, I guess.” They walked for a while, the rock of Kyungsoo’s step threatening to send Baekhyun to sleep until he heard the telltale rumble in his demon’s chest that meant he was about to speak. Again. “Being in favor in Lucy’s court is the strangest thing. I just… _get_ anything.” He fell back into pensive silence that followed them all the way back to his rooms, and Baekhyun was loathe to break it, preferring to soak in the feeling of Kyungsoo’s fine shirt shifting against his bare skin.

The bed in this apartment was familiar by now. Baekhyun was almost completely sure that Kyungsoo slept somewhere else, since he’d spent most of his time in the chamber and he’d only seen Kyungsoo when the demon required him. He clung to the broad shoulders, shivering even as the bed opened up invitingly behind him. The bed wasn’t what he wanted.

“O, not to hell again, fair knight!” he teased. 

He didn’t expect Kyungsoo to tense up. It was for a second, no more, then he was being deposited on the bed and his demon was turning to go. 

“Wait! What the—Kyungsoo!” It was a pampered whine, but there was something a little more urgent in it that got the demon to pause and turn a little, waiting quietly. Baekhyun pressed his lips together. A man of few words, this. “If I can make you come again, will you stay?”

Kyungsoo turned back to him, raising his eyebrows. “Aren’t you tired? Or sore? Or hungry? Toys are usually… fragile.” 

Baekhyun put his fingers in his mouth. 

“I won’t help you.”

Baekhyun rose to his knees and took the fingers out with a pop, letting them drift to his nipple. 

“Alright.” 

* * *

Kyungsoo’s body gave off more heat than the average person, Baekhyun concluded. Maybe there really was some kind of extra fire inside of him, related to whatever was different about his eyes. Maybe he should be more careful during sex—maybe he’d catch on fire, or something. But Kyungsoo sweated just like normal, and his breath was hot and caught like any person’s might, if that person were Kyungsoo.

“What?”

“What do you mean, what? Haven’t you ever had anybody stare at you?” The response was defensive.

Kyungsoo laughed. “The idea of demons is that we’re anathema. We represent…” he made a vague hand gesture as he leaned against the headboard, his other arm thrown around Baekhyun’s shoulders. “The sins of the Up There. To stare at us is to sin as well.” He raised an eyebrow.

“But I mean down here. If you’re all demons, can’t you look at each other?”

“It gets complicated,” Kyungsoo answered seriously. “There’s centuries of history between most of us. Time passes differently here. Time passes… and time encourages us to care a little less. Although I think everyone’s reminded a little of the beauty of stuff when a toy comes along, because you always have these wide eyes and you stare at everything.” _She was just playing with the wide-eyed thing._ Jongin’s words appeared in his mind like they’d been summoned by a servant’s bell.

“You do all dress rather impressively,” Baekhyun pointed out. “Up There, people go out into the street in sweatpants and holey t-shirts. And, also—everyone here is beautiful? That’s not normal, either. Stop it.”

Kyungsoo smiled again. “We have to be seductive, don’t we? Tempters and sirens, all of us.”

Baekhyun replied, “But that’s only one of the sins. Is that even a sin? To be hot? Am I a sinner?”

“Oh, you’re a sinner,” Kyungsoo replied silkily, “But not because you’re hot. We’re all about engagement of the senses here: and giving into lust is not weakness.”

Baekhyun hummed. “I’m gonna tell my preacher that when I visit home sometime. ‘Hey, I had this great post-sex conversation with an actual real-life demon, and he said that giving in to lust wasn’t weakness, and to engage my senses.’” He huffed. “He’d probably just tell me to go have a slice of chocolate cake.”

“Mmmmmm.” The sound rumbled next to him. He stayed quiet, hoping to discover why the demon had made it. He was rewarded: “I used to make a delicious chocolate cake.”

“I thought demons didn’t eat!” Baekhyun sat up a little, but Kyungsoo pressed him back down, seemingly comfortable with what he’d once been opposed to. The human smirked to himself.

“Well, they don’t. Not in Lucy’s court, anyway. It’s all testosterone. It’s who can shoot the arrow farther through the bigger boar, and who can outfox the greater majority on trickery alone. Lucy lives for that kind of thing. I think it makes him believe maybe one day he’ll be able to do it for himself.” Kyungsoo sighed, his hand coming up to play with Baekhyun’s hair. “I do miss the food in Diana’s court, though. The cooking. And the fresh air. I think Lucy wants everyone just as stir-crazy as he is.”

‘You were in Diana’s court? That girl—woman—I accidentally talked to?”

“—And who you shall never talk to again,” Kyungsoo added sternly. “It was a long, long time ago. I barely remember it, at this point. I remember… chocolate cake… and water, real water—creek water, that you could drink, deep enough to go over my head…” he sighed. “But she’s got her own problems. I’ll probably live longer in Lucy’s court.”

“So, what, Diana just controls Lucy? Lucy as in _Lucifer_? Devil Lucifer?” Baekhyun chewed on his lip. 

Kyungsoo laughed. “Even _Jongin_ wouldn’t dare ask him about that. He’s technically her consort. Who knows how she controls him, but she’s the mistress of hell, and she was… let me put it like this. She was kind enough to give him his own court. He’s rather pouty about it all and keeps us all locked up in this castle, although he’d never admit it, and he wouldn’t dare to her.”

“If Lucy chafes so much… does he ever, you know… talk about getting out?”

“You ask very pointed questions.”

“I’m curious.”

“I’m a demon, Baekhyun. I don’t know much about the politics of angels or gods.” Kyungsoo sighed. 

_Angels or gods?_ Lucifer, the angel: that made sense. A fallen angel. So then; Diana the god? Baekhyun fell silent and surrendered to his thoughts…

“Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun bit his lip, hoping the demon hadn’t really fallen asleep. But his eyes were open in a heartbeat, their shifting attention turning towards him. “Why did you move from Diana’s court to Lucy’s?” 

“Why?” Kyungsoo repeated. Then, “You ask very pointed questions.”

“I—“

“One more, Baekhyun. Then you should really get some sleep. We have a party to attend later, at which you will be perfectly cordial and shall look perfectly delicious. Do that thing you do with your eyeliner.”

“Why did you get weird when I called this place hell before? It is, isn’t it? Wait, no, that’s not my question. It’s not! Is it… these rooms? The stone I mean. Is there an outside?” 

Kyungsoo swung his legs over the side of the bed, shrugging his shirt back on. “Yes.”

* * *

“I thought you said it was just a party!” Baekhyun hissed in Kyungsoo’s ear, and was cut off, his mouth flapping stupidly. He hadn’t been silenced in a while, and it felt slightly insulting.

It wasn’t just a party. Baekhyun was trussed up in sleek leatherlike pants that clung to every curve and a wine colored silk shirt that Kyungsoo hadn’t even bothered to have buttoned. He’d done his eyeliner carefully, but now he was thanking the fact that he’d added some eyeshadow as well.

It wasn’t just a party. Kyungsoo was dressed in his best tuxedo and he looked nervous. Jongin was dressed in a tuxedo and he looked nervous, too, an unusual look on the demon, who kept swallowing and licking his lips, a similar nervous tick to himself.

The room had windows, and Baekhyun couldn’t stop staring. They lined both sides of the huge room, and sunlight, diluted like clouds blanketed the skies, filtered through them, illuminating the various shades of skin on the floor. For there were no seats but for the chaise lounge on the raised stone dais at the front. Flames licked at the sides of the dais, and at the edges of the floor like they always did, but they didn’t seem to have the same importance as they always did. There was _light_. Kyungsoo seemed to enjoy it just as much as Baekhyun. 

On the bloodred lounge at the front of the room sat Diana and a blonde-haired, red-eyed beauty. He looked lost in her: unable to tear himself away from her eyes or the minutiae of her movements as she leaned back and laughed and accepted a glass of wine from a demon behind her. She returned her attention to him presently, running a hand through his golden hair and murmuring something to him that made him grin. 

Kyungsoo led him over to where Jongin was talking to a demon Kyungsoo had never seen. He was tanned and his features were perfect, and something about the whole of him made Baekhyun want to be around him all the time. Baekhyun thought: _we always begin the parties with Jongin._ But he let it go. 

“Is this one of those toys Lucy is always talking about?” The strange demon said, smiling kindly. His eyes were a light sizzle, different from Kyungsoo’s soft burn or Jongin’s intense smolder. 

“It is,” Jongin replied. “I’m sorry I couldn’t show you the one I had. Exquisite. Not to say that yours isn’t, Kyungsoo,” he said quickly, seeing Kyungsoo open his mouth to protest. 

“Amazing,” said the new demon, eyes flicking across Baekhyun. 

“I’m surprised to see you, Mino,” Kyungsoo said. “When did you arrive at court?”

“Just a few weeks ago,” replied Mino, taking a sip of his liquor. He winked at Baekhyun. “Travel is the most indulgent you can get. This is small time shit. See _you_ know. Hell must be a change from Up There. And it’s only two-bit hell. The real hell is out those windows.”

Baekhyun gave a small smile and nodded timidly; he didn’t want to do more. This demon was supposed to be talking to Kyungsoo, not to him. Actually, he was probably supposed to be talking to Jongin, and not Kyungsoo or him at all. But it appeared there was little either Lucian demon could do about it. He glanced up at the dias as they moved on to talk about who was staying where—lots of name dropping that Baekhyun understood none of.

Someone had joined Diana and Lucy on the dais: jet black hair half-pushed back, wearing a vest over his dress shirt, sitting on a tall stool and smiling softly at something Diana was saying to him. He glanced down at the crowd, eyes wandering, and their gazes met for a split-second—then Baekhyun was looking back towards his demon, heart pounding. Surely a demon talking that easily with Diana hadn’t really been looking at _him._

* * *

Later that night, Yixing leaned back in the chair he’d had brought in for himself on the edge of the room and took a moment to look around at the ambition and games that still pervaded this place, even after the centuries and centuries of its existence. There was Diana, its mistress, lying contentedly and letting Lucifer whisper sweet nothings in her ear. There were some of Diana’s demons, playing cards and puffing at pipes in a corner—who knew how they’d gotten all that into the party. There in the middle of the dance floor were the lewdest of Lucifer’s demons, dancing with as much fervor as always, sensual and enthralling and corrupt. And among them, a human just as beautiful as the prettiest of them, eyes as fiery as a demon’s, dancing with the skill it took some demons centuries to learn.

He watched it.

“Penny for your thoughts.” Diana’s husky voice snuck up on him and he jumped, blinking as he emerged from his trance. 

“You’d have to to all the way Up There to get it,” he murmured, giving her a wry smile. Then he said, “That toy of Lucifer’s is fascinating. I like it.”

“Do you want it?” She asked.

He looked at her incredulously, but her forest-green eyes returned his gaze steadily. “Really?” he asked. He hadn’t had many conversations with the demon who seemed to have been gifted the thing, but he didn’t really have anything against Kyungsoo, not like Diana did. Nor was he stupid; he knew she had a motive, she always did. Maybe she hadn’t reminded Lucy of who was boss recently. _Power trips after power trips,_ he thought.

But the human really _was_ pretty.

He placated her. “Of course I want it.”

Diana grinned, her perfect teeth blindingly white against her red lipstick. “ _Lovely_ ,” she purred. Lucy was watching them closely, like he could sense something was wrong, but in the matter of a minute Diana had stopped the celebrations and everyone was watching the dais respectfully. 

“I’m sorry to stop you all from you enjoyment,” Diana apologized, “But I’ve just got a small present for one of my most loyal demons, who really deserves something pretty for all his putting up with me.”

A flurry of applause, and a few hollers. Enthusiasm and appreciation as expected; a satisfied expression from Diana.

“I got the idea to take a page out of my beautiful consort’s book—Lucifer _is_ a genius, you know,” she continued, casting a glowing smile on the blonde still reclining on the chaise lounge. He looked unruffled, but the slight crease between his eyebrows said he was nervous: he didn’t know what she was going to do.

“Baekhyun! We’re friends, aren’t we?” The name rang like death through the hall. Everyone turned towards the human in the middle of the crowd, who looked about him with wide, helpless eyes. “You’re Yixing’s now. He’ll take very good care of you, and you’ll make him very happy, I know it.”

There was a split second of silence as the court absorbed what had just happened—Diana, adopting a toy into her court—and then more clapping, and then the music began again, so that everyone could gossip and politic twice as hard about it all. 

Yixing, for his part, was watching the human, whose demon led him towards the dais expressionless, his shoulders tight with tension. There was a brief exchange between Kyungsoo, the human, and Lucy, and then Baekhyun glanced towards him again, and he was struck by the _Up Thereness_ of him. 

A few more words between Diana and her consort, and then Baekhyun was weaving his way towards Yixing. The height of favor in Diana’s court was an advantageous position indeed.

* * *

 

seahorse's note: I got a lot of comments wanting me to expand on this AU, so I did! I hope you like it—hope it wasn't too much politics, or too many OC's, or too much of a new world... oopsies. I accidentally wrote a lot. 

GET EXCITED FOR BAEKXING IN PART 2! The sweetheart seems to have stolen what's Kyungsoo's. So we'll see how  _that_ goes over. Leave comments!

* * *

 


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